Washington County Bar Association recommends retaining judges
Members of the Washington County Bar Association voted overwhelmingly in a recent poll to recommend that voters retain Judge Valarie Costanzo and Judge Michael Lucas for the Washington County Court of Common Pleas.
In voting in the poll, the Bar Association’s members were asked to consider in their decision each judge’s integrity, legal ability, diligence and judicial temperament.
The bar voted 95% in favor of retention for Lucas and 86% for Costanzo, which WCBA President Ricci Getty said showed they are “confident in recommending their retention” in the upcoming Nov. 7 general election.
“The Bar Association takes seriously its responsibility to ensure that qualified incumbent judges are retained,” Getty said.
Retention elections are non-partisan, uncontested “yes or no” votes. If the retention candidate receives more yes votes than no votes, then the judge is retained for another 10-year term. Costanzo and Lucas were elected to the bench on both the Republican and Democratic ballots in 2013, so this will be their first retention election.
WCBA is an organization of lawyers who practice law in Washington County. Only members who primarily work or live in Washington County were eligible to vote. Ballots were mailed to 294 eligible voting members, with 146 ballots returned.
“WCBA members have practiced before these judges, and their perspective should be valuable to the public,” Getty said.
WCBA and its Court Relations Committee organized the poll of members as a public service for voters heading to the polls on Nov. 7.
In addition, WCBA has posted on its website, www.washcobar.org, questionnaires completed by magisterial district judge candidates, including Phillippe A. Melograne and Christina Fox Grasso, who are running against each other for the magisterial district covering Peters Township and surrounding areas. Gary Havelka and Mark Wilson, who are running unopposed in their magisterial districts, did not respond to an email to participate.